a qualitative study of demotivating factors in online learning among young iranian efl learners

Demotivation plays a crucial role in the process of language learning, and demotivating factors have the potential to negatively affect learners’ experiences, attitudes, and learning outcomes during this process. since the outbreak of the covid-19 pandemic, online education has gained more attention and been frequently adopted by many. however, the shift from in-person classes to online classes poses many challenges to learners that could lead to their demotivation. despite the growing body of research on learner demotivation in pre-pandemic, face-to-face classes, little is known about how demotivating factors influence learners in online classes. to bridge this gap, the present study aims to investigate the demotivating factors that efl learners experienced during their online classes. to this end, 21 young iranian efl learners at intermediate and high-intermediate levels of proficiency from various private language institutes were selected using purposive sampling. a set of semi-structured interviews was used to collect qualitative data from the answers that the participants provided to the questions that centered around their negative experiences of language learning in online classes. the process of data analysis was carried out through thematic coding of the obtained data via maxqda 2022 software. the second researcher has also coded the collected data in order to enhance the credibility of data coding and theme development. the findings of this study indicated that unfavorable learning environment, teacher-related issues, inappropriate syllabus design, inadequate facilities, poor evaluation system, economic problems, and future pessimism were respectively the most demotivating factors among young iranian efl learners in online learning. this study has some pedagogical implications for language teachers, learners, and policy makers and is beneficial for material developers and syllabus designers.